§ Mr. Terry FieldsTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether, for students who will still be eligible for housing benefit and non-student partners who are in receipt of housing benefit, he plans any amendments to reflect the new arrangements for grants to be paid for the whole year as opposed to the previous practice of grants awarded for the academic year.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardWe propose that the student grant, which is not intended to provide financial support for the long vacation, will continue to be treated as now in the calculation of housing benefit. The new student loans will provide support throughout the whole of the course including the long vacations falling within it. We propose that income from loans will be apportioned over the whole year for the purpose of calculating benefit entitlement. We also propose that income from top-up loans will attract a weekly disregard of £10 so long as the recipient remains a student.